Horace Walter Smith in Paris 1938

Between the wars he worked for Cooks the travel agents, sometimes in the Paris office, as he spoke French very well. When war broke out he stayed in Paris until the Germans were about to take the city. The French staff in the office were instructed to make their own way home. The British staff each were given a suitcase filled with a ledger and a large amount of cash and travellers’ cheques then told to get back to Britain by any means. They did, and all the money was returned to head-office.